The Irish Astronomical Association was formed in 1974 and draws its 200+ members from both the UK and Ireland. The IAA membership ranges from complete beginners to accomplished observers and astrophotographers. Read more.....

Knowing the date and time is a question that is tightly tied up with astronomy, combined with some history, politics and a bit of physics. This talk will give a summary of how the calendar and clock we have today has changed from ancient times right up to 2016.

Gaia is the European Space Agency's flagship mission for this decade, and is revolutionising our understanding of the Milky Way and beyond, by allowing astronomers to measure distances to a billion stars.

Stars more massive than 8 Suns end their lives in dramatic supernova explosions. But before dying, these monster stars have tumultuous lives when they blow winds, suffer giant eruptions, and interact with companion stars. In this talk, Prof. Jose Groh (TCD) will give an overview on the fast lives of the most massive stars in the Universe and how they evolve. He will also discuss the roles of massive, monster stars as cosmic engines of the Universe.

This year's season opener features a return visit to the IAA by Prof Alan Fitzsimmons of QUB's Astrophysics Research Centre on the subject of "Sungrazing Comets - Falling Into Hell". Alan is one of our greatest supporters and most popular speakers and has given us many superb lectures over a period measured in decades. This once again promises to be an excellent start to our new lecture season.

The Irish Astronomical Association (IAA), in conjunction with the Irish Federation of Astronomical Societies (IFAS) and the Irish Astronomical Society (IAS), presents "Images of Starlight", a highly regarded exhibition of the best astronomical photographs taken by amateur astronomers throughout Ireland.